The lawyer for Steve Bechler's wife plans to bring litigation against the makers of Xenadrine RFA-1, The Washington Post reported in its Tuesday editions.

Orioles to announce fund
The Orioles in the next day or so are expected to announce the establishment of a Steve Bechler Memorial Fund. Proceeds will support his widow, Kiley Bechler.

Club owner Peter Angelos already has pledged a significant contribution to Kiley Bechler, who might not qualify for baseball's life insurance premium because her husband had only 27 days of major-league service time.

Mike Flanagan, former Orioles pitcher now the club's executive director of baseball operations, told the Baltimore Sun several other teams have offered to donate money.

"One of the things she said at his deathbed, was, 'I'm not ready to be a single mom, and I wanted you to see this baby born,' " Flanagan told the paper. "I think it's also part of the reason she's really wanted to keep a record of everything that transpired. Newspaper articles, those kinds of things.

"She said over and over to me, 'I want to be able to tell her what her daddy was all about, what he went through and how much they cared about him.' "
-- ESPN.com news services

According to the report, Kiley Bechler retained David Meiselman late last week, and the lawyer told The Post that the party plans to sue Cytodyne Technologies.

Steve Bechler died of heatstroke last Monday, less than 24 hours after he collapsed during a spring-training workout sent his temperature to 108 degrees. It is believed Bechler was taking the diet supplement and that it may have contributed to his death.

"Our position very clearly is that Steve Bechler is dead, and that ephedra killed him," Meiselman told the newspaper. "We intend to get this product off the shelves and put the manufacturer out of business. … I am all for free enterprise, but a company that knowingly sells a product that kills people is no longer entrepreneurial, but predatory."

Meiselman told The Washington Post that they haven't considered whether the Orioles are also liable for Bechler's death, telling the newspaper that the team has "handled everything in the way we would want it to be handled."

Meanwhile, Cytodyne Technologies did place blame on the Orioles in a statement obtained by The Post.

"It's unfortunate that the Orioles' organization has chosen to ignore the fact that Mr. Bechler had a history of hypertension, liver disease and heat illness episodes and that he was allowed to exercise without proper hydration and nutrition," the statement said. " … The media should be asking the Orioles organization why this was allowed to happen instead of blaming (Xenadrine).

"The death of Steve Bechler is tragic and our condolences go out to his family. However, the position of the attorney making this accusation is based on neither fact nor science. Xenadrine has been used safely and effectively by over 20 million people in the U.S. alone. … There is not a single clinical study that has shown ephedra to be unsafe. In view of this, it's reckless for anyone to point blame for Mr. Bechler's tragic death at this product."

A bottle of Xenadrine RFA-1 was found in Bechler's locker after he collapsed, and that bottle was turned over to police.

Meanwhile, Illinois Sen. Richard J. Durbin called for an immediate ban on ephedrine in a letter Monday to Tommy G. Thompson, the secretary of Health and Human Services.

Banning the supplement, Durbin argued in the letter obtained by the Baltimore Sun, would be faster than passing a bill in Congress ordering federal agencies to act.

Broward County medical examiner Joshua Perper had cited Bechler's use of ephedra in a news conference on Feb. 18, and said it was a contributing factor in his death.

"Yes, ephedra was one of the significant elements" in Bechler's death, Perper told The Post on Monday. He cited other factors as well, including an enlarged heart, slight hypertension, a liver abnormality and borderline high-blood pressure.

According to the report, Meiselman said filing was still "weeks away" and he did not put a figure on the suit.

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Minnesota Vikings attorneys claim Korey Stringer's use of the controversial supplement ephedra can be linked to the heatstroke that killed him during training camp in 2001, according to documents filed last week.

The Vikings filed the papers in response to a motion by the lawyers of Stringer's widow, Kelci, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported Tuesday. She has filed a $100 million wrongful death suit against the team.

Her attorneys have requested dismissal of a defense argument that Stringer took a supplement that contained ephedra and therefore contributed to his own death.

"Stringer's use of ephedra can be causally linked to the onset of heatstroke," the papers said.

The attorneys referred to testimony from Kelci Stringer in which she said her husband used a supplement called Ripped Fuel, which contains ephedra, before every football game. Right guard David Dixon, Stringer's training camp roommate, said in a signed affidavit that Stringer told him he used Ripped Fuel the morning of July 31, 2001 -- the day Stringer collapsed. He died early on the morning of Aug. 1.

Toxicology reports revealed no traces of ephedra in Stringer's system. But the Vikings contend that the toxicology reports did not test for ephedra.

"Plaintiffs have long suggested that no evidence of Stringer's ephedra use exists because blood tests after his death didn't reveal the presence of ephedra," Vikings lawyers said. "However, the truth as revealed in discovery in this case is that Stringer's blood was never actually tested for the presence of ephedra."

The Vikings' attorneys said that Stringer was only tested for hydrochlorothiazide, a diuretic. Dr. Robert Middleberg, who works for a testing lab in Willow Grove, Penn., said his lab was not asked to test for anything else, including ephedra, although his lab had the capacity to conduct such a test.

They also cited the deposition of Dr. Dennis Gremel, the Blue Earth County medical examiner, who said the Mayo Clinic laboratory did not test for ephedra or ephedrine in Stringer's blood.

When Stringer played, the NFL discouraged the use of supplements that contained ephedra because of studies linking the drug to adverse side effects including heart attacks and damage to the nervous system. After Stringer's death, the league banned ephedra.

Kelci Stringer's attorneys say the Vikings are initiating a smear campaign against Stringer.

"The Vikings long ago decided to smear Korey Stringer's name by suggesting that he contributed to his own death by taking supplements," Stringer attorney Paul DeMarco said Monday. "But every witness who has been asked if they have any evidence that Korey Stringer did anything to contribute to his own death said no. That includes the three team doctors.

"Because the Vikings refuse to own up to their own gross negligence, I expect them to look far and wide, in vain, for any evidence that Korey Stringer contributed to his own death."

In other documents, Vikings attorneys also said Stringer failed to arrive at training camp in proper condition.

Vikings attorney Jim O'Neal will ask judge Gary Larson to dismiss the case at a hearing on March 4. The trial is scheduled for June 9.

Originally posted by Draven Seems to me the teams are scrambling to put the blame on ephedra so they don't get screwed for doing it to the players (The real reason these guys are droping dead).

good call...and interestingly enough, at least according to an article i found on si.com today they wont even know for a coupla weeks yet if there was any ephedra in Belcher's system the day he died. But even if it was, they are blaming Xenadrine when the guy had several other health probs. alot of political grandstanding....

I think if the FDA pulls this, people should demand from their Senator that, cigarettes, tylenol, fastfood and any substance that causes death should be pulled. Obviously we cannot take care of ourselves so better ban everything. People have no responsibility for there own actions. In the future before you buy anything you will have to agree to an agreement pages long, like what microsoft provides, absolving them of all responsibility. I think we should create a letter to send to all media outlets and politicians about the safety of ephidrine vs tylenol, etc.&nbsp; It&nbsp; will have lots of effect if everyone on all fitness boards sends this to numerous places.

Never gonna to happen Gmonk. A lot of people use those things. And the average joe and jane doesn't know ephedra from their *******. People freak out at the slightest mention of things like steroids, ephedra or other supplements. To give you an example, my girlfriends brother is a runner and swims a lot. He was using some supplement for recovery that had creatine in it. He had been taking in for about a month and was raving about how it had dropped his running times. Then one day he goes running with some friend who points out that the supplement he has been using has creatine in it. So what does he do? He freaks and throws it out! Now this is not a dumb guy. He has an MBA from UNC, runs a multi-million dollors buisness. But he was scared off by the what the media has said about creatine in the past. So you see people are allways going to think the worst.

How many people can remember when steroids where banned? I do. I remember SI running a couple af articles on a few people that SUPPOSEDLY died while using it. I will bet that if you go back to around '86-87 you can only find one or two cases where steroids caused a death. And one was a kid. I can still see his picture in SI, he was buired in his football uniform. After a kid died everyone jump on the band wagon. Thats why PH's are going the way of the DODO, because people think kids are going to get hurt, or even killed. Ephedra is also in this catagory. Congress has yet to ban ephedra because everyone that gets hurt abuses it. Everytime the FDA goes the the Hill to get ephedra banned congress tells them no. But now I think the O's pitcher is the final nail in ephedras coffin. People are so mad about this, it's just like the scare that caused steroids to be banned. Pretty soon will be lucky to get a multi-vitamin with out a script.

Its a sad thing that he died, i know nothing about baseball cos im from Australia, but its seems to me by seeing him on T.V he was overweight and im sure the officials like coaches , managers e.t.c were putting pressure on him to lose weight so he can make the top side, and im sure he was exceeding the limit of pills to be taken per day(if ephadra is the reason he died). I mean that with little food and lots of sun exposure and pressure's of being dropped from the team is a recipe for disaster.. I've played sports professionally in Australia, and the overweight yet talented guys are always being hammered by the trainers to get fit and lose weight..

Belcher had even told a teammate he was outta shape and should have worked out and stuff during the off season. I guess ephedra is to blame for that too.

last nite on our local news they were touting the benefits of eating chocolate, and all kinds of fruit pies because of the anti oxidants in them!! so great, we have a bunch of clogged atreried fat folks who eat a whole pie at a time and croak from a heart attack or stroke who have alot of anti oxidants in them! what idiots. and everyone interviewed could stand to loose at least 20 lbs....

Originally posted by msclbldrguy Belcher had even told a teammate he was outta shape and should have worked out and stuff during the off season. I guess ephedra is to blame for that too.

last nite on our local news they were touting the benefits of eating chocolate, and all kinds of fruit pies because of the anti oxidants in them!! so great, we have a bunch of clogged atreried fat folks who eat a whole pie at a time and croak from a heart attack or stroke who have alot of anti oxidants in them! what idiots. and everyone interviewed could stand to loose at least 20 lbs....

So if if i was to get a group of guys together to complain about a certain brand of toilet paper scratching my ass and making it bleed, would they ban it also and would i have the right to SUE???

Originally posted by belbs75 So if if i was to get a group of guys together to complain about a certain brand of toilet paper scratching my ass and making it bleed, would they ban it also and would i have the right to SUE???

now there's a thought we (the us) has to be the most lawsuit happy place on earth. i've never seen such a bunch of folks who cant seem to understand they have a responsibility for their health, etc...

I kinda doubt it will be banned, but it may become too expensive for companies to sell (insurance-wise). Insurance policies ususally state that the insurance company will decide how to proceed with litigation. More often than not, they try to settle and spread the costs of that loss to policy holders rather than fight it out and risk a big loss.
The problem with comparing it to prescription meds is that they have a doc supervising their usage (at least they are supposed to). It sounds like a straight strict-liability problem here. If one sells something they are liable for all problems stemming from it's use as long as it was being used for it's intended purpose or for reasonably expected uses. It'd be hard to argue that one is expected to follow dosing reccomendations on the bottle--do you?